Roots of Faith (Usūl al-Dīn), Main Doctrines - Part 1

Islam is like a tree whose roots are its beliefs and whose branches are its practices. If the roots are not firm and healthy, the tree will not survive - but the roots only form the foundation of the tree. This section will deal with only the roots of faith. The roots of faith are the general concepts of islam which are the most important and basic


1. Monotheism: The Oneness of Allah (tawhid)
Tawhīd (also Tawhid or Tauhid or Tawheed; Arabic أٹأ¦أچأ­أڈ) is the Islamic concept of monotheism. In Arabic, Tawhīd means "unification, ie to unify or to keep something unified as one." In Islam, Tawhīd means to assert the unity of God. The opposite of Tawhīd is shirk, which means "Association" in Arabic. Muslims view polytheism and idolatry as shirk.

• Allah, or God, is the center of Muslim belief.
• There is only one God Who is eternal, unique, and has no blood relation to any human beings

QUOTE

Say He is Allah the One. Allah the Eternal. He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is nothing comparable to Him. Quran (112:1-4)

2. Divine Justice ('adl)
Anyone who believes in Islamic monotheism must believe in the Almighty's justice.

• Allah is just, He never wrongs His creatures, for injustice is an evil deed while He is far from doing evil.
• He is omniscient, He does not neglect anything.
• He is self-sufficient, He has no cause to wrong others.
• He owns everything, He does not need the actions of anyone

QUOTE

"He is always standing firm on justice. There is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Wise." Quran (3:18)
"And your Lord does not deal unjustly with anyone." Quran (18:49)

3. Prophethood (nubuwwa)
Prophethood denotes that God has appointed perfect Prophets and Messengers to teach mankind Gods religion.

• Prophets received divine revelation.
• they are infallible - that is, they never committed any sin
• These prophets were of two types: "local" and "universal."
• the local prophets were sent with specific messages to specific groups of people.
• The universal prophets were sent with messages and books for all of humankind.
• There were only five universal prophets, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (Peace be upon them all)

4. Succession to the Prophet Muhammad ( pbuh ) (imama)
All of the prophets and messengers of God had successors, and just as Allah appointed His prophets and messengers for the guidance of mankind, He also appointed successors to the prophets and messengers as a matter of necessity.

• These successors are called imams and are appointed by Allah, not by humankind.
• The right to ordain imams belongs only to Almighty Allah.
• Allah also attributes the right of appointing leaders to Himself

QUOTE

"And remember when your Lord said to the angels, 'Verily I am going to place a successor (khalifa)...." Quran (2:30)
"O David! Verily We have placed you as a successor (khalifa) on earth." Quran (38:26)
"And remember when the Lord of Abraham tried him with certain commands which he fulfilled; Allah said to him, 'Verily I am going to make you a leader (imam) of mankind.'" Quran (2:124)
"We made from among them leaders, giving guidance under Our command." Quran (32:24)

5. The Day of Judgement and the Resurrection (qiyama)
Belief in the day of judgement is part of the Islamic creed and is a fundamental tenet of faith in islam.

• Allah placed human beings on the earth to test them.
• The life of the human being does not end at death.
• Their souls then live on, facing the grave and the questioning therein.
• their bodies will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement.
• On that day, they will receive whatever they deserve according to their beliefs and deeds in life.
• Some people will go to Heaven and others will go to Hell.